Human cannonball to soar through the air during circus

By DENNY DYROFF, For the Journal Register News Service

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Friends and relatives call her Elliana Grace but she seems more like “Amazing Grace” to anyone watching her perform as one of the stars of “Built To Amaze!,” the 143rd Edition of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.

The show, which is the brand new Red Tour, visits Philadelphia for five-day run at the Wells Fargo Center from Feb. 13-17. In her act, Grace is a human cannonball –a human that gets fired from a cannon. At age 20, Grace is the youngest human cannonball ever.

“This is my first time with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey,” said Grace, during a phone interview last week from a tour stop in North Carolina. “I just started back in October and that was also my first training as a cannonball.

“But, I grew up in the circus. My mom runs the Circus Harmony Program in St. Louis. I’ve been performing since I was little. My main discipline was lyra, which are metal hoops that are suspended by one point and spin around. I’ve also done acrobatics, hula hoops and a little juggling.”

Much to her surprise, her circus days in St. Louis set the stage for her becoming part of the most famous circus in the world.

“Circus is a pretty small community,” said Grace. “Someone from Ringling called my mom to see if she knew anyone that would be good for the cannon act and she suggested me. I went in and auditioned for cannon back in October. I had to do a high fall into an air bag and they looked at my body positioning, body control and how I landed.

“One week later, they called me back and a few days later I was on the Ringling Bros. train. I started on the ‘Fully Charged’ tour. Brian Miser, who was doing cannon for them, was my teacher.

“When I was shot out of the cannon the first time, it was the most terrifying thing I’d ever done in my life. I didn’t have a safety on -- no spotting -- you just get in and go. The farthest I’ve ever gone is 100 feet. In the show, I’m shot 75 feet.”

Both Grace and Miser, who is now retired from the circus, fly out of the cannon at seven times the force of gravity and reach a speed of 65 miles-per-hour in less than a half-second.

“I can’t tell you how I’m propelled,” said Grace. “That’s a circus secret.”

In an interview a few years ago, Miser said, “I don’t want to give away too much but I can tell you that you have to make sure the pressure is set right in the landing bag. You’ve got to fine-tune it. The most stressful part is making sure all the settings are right.”

“Built To Amaze!” also features Ringmaster Andre McClain (accompanied by his horse Comanche) along with more than 110 of the world’s best performers representing 17 countries along with 95 exotic and domestic animals.

Some of this year’s new acts are nine-time international award winning comedic animal presenting duo Alex and Irina Emelin of Russia; the Tower Tumblers, a troupe of competitive aerial athletes from the Ukraine who launch themselves from trampolines to scale, rappel and pass through a three-story high translucent tower; and New York’s legendary King Charles Troupe whose act features basketball and whirling unicycles.